If you're reading Cory Doctorow books and blogposts, that's exactly what "they" are working on and the part of the population that cares about this may be a lot smaller than you think.
I know they are trying, but there will always be people with the knowledge to resist, like the HN crowd.
I can see more devices like iphones being sold and locked down, but I can't see open computers not being sold anymore, not so long as there are companies and people with a will to make them. Look at System76 as an example.
It's happening already. "Trusted Computing" is only the start. Can you even buy a CPU that isn't filled with that shit? Or a motherboard where every last chip is open/fully documented and verifiable?
I can see more devices like iphones being sold and locked down, but I can't see open computers not being sold anymore, not so long as there are companies and people with a will to make them. Look at System76 as an example.